Charles Tyler Ensemble
(ZYX - ESP 1029-2 ) Used CD $5.00
This debut recording from 1966 as a leader by the Ayler sideman conceptualizes alto sax-player Tyler’s focus and the path he was on, with an ensemble well-constructed to fit in with those pursuits. (Kingpins of 60s avant garde Henry Grimes [bass], Ronald Shannon Jackson [drums] and Joel Friedman [cello] all played with Ayler at some point, while Charles Moffett [orchestra vibes], cast his die with Ornette Coleman, Carla Bley and Pharoah Sanders.) Tyler’s agonized, convoluted lines and taut guttural intonations cry out on “Strange Uhuru,” and he rips open a calypso melody on “Three Spirits,” twisting and turning like a frenzied avatar. German reissue of an ESP-Disk.